March 24, 2006

Houston - The University of Houston men's and women's track and field teams will travel to nearby Texas Southern University and compete in the 55th Annual TSU Relays on March 24-25 in Houston. The meet returns to the Alexander Durley Sports Complex on the Southwest corner of the Texas Southern campus for the first time since 1999. The refurbished track includes a new Mondo track surface, the same surface used in the last four Olympic Games and World Championships.

From 1999-2005, the TSU Relays were held at the Carl Lewis/Tom Tellez Track and Field Complex on the UH campus and at Rice University.

This year's meet features Olympians from the United States and Mexico, as well as 30 collegiate team and 90 middle and high school teams. These collegiate teams include Houston, Rice, Texas A&M and Harvard.

Over 12,000 spectators are expected during the two-day meet that begins at 9:00 a.m. on Friday and 8:00 a.m. on Saturday.

Last Meet: Houston opened its 2006 outdoor schedule winning six individual events and two relay races at the UTSA Relays Track and Field meet on Saturday, March 18.
Freshman Alexis Rogers won the women's 100-meter hurdles race and qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships with a time of 13.74 seconds, finishing ahead of teammate Lee Andréa Robinson, who had a time of 14.22 seconds.
Jennifer Hunt, Octavia Garrett, LaNeeka Allen and Tiffany Abney combined to win the women's 4x400-meter race with a time of 3:45.30.
Junior Caresir Hamilton won the women's high jump after clearing 1.69 meters (5' 6.50"), and had a third-place finish in the women's long jump with a leap of 5.60 meters (18' 4.50").
Senior Kelli Williams was the runner-up in the triple jump with a mark of 11.16 meters (36' 7.50").
Senior Sesar Figueroa was the runner-up in the men's 800-meter run with a time of 1:54.66. Justin Pitchford of UTSA won the race just 44 hundredths of a second ahead of Figueroa.
Calum Neff made his UH outdoor debut winning the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:33.10.
Houston also won the men's 4x100-meter relay with a time of 40.65 seconds.
Tristian Whitley won the men's high jump after clearing 2.10 meters (6'10. 75"). His teammate, Ivan Diggs, was the runner-up after he cleared 2.03 meters (6'8").
Jonathan Reeves won both the shot put and discus throws with NCAA Regional qualifying marks of 18.44 meters (60' 6") in the shot put and 52.86 meters (173' 5") in the discus.
Freshman Andy Tackett completed Houston's standout performances with a second-place showing in the javelin with a throw of 55.31 meters (181' 5").

Next Meet: Following the TSU Relays, Houston will travel to Austin, Texas and compete in the 79th Annual Texas Relays on April 5-8 at the Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus. The Texas Relays is an annual gathering of the nation's top professional, collegiate and high school track and field athletes.

Schedule Note: The Tom Tellez Invitational that was scheduled for March 31-April 1, has been cancelled. The meet was scheduled to be held at the Carl Lewis/Tom Tellez Track and Field Complex on the University of Houston campus. Both the High School and Collegiate Divisions were cancelled.